Marrickville and Leichhardt councils will provide special parking permits for community nurses and home care workers, following a local campaign by the Sydney Alliance.
The two Inner West councils will join the City of Sydney, which already has a special Care Worker Parking Permit in place.
Sydney Alliance spokesperson Rita Martin said community nurses and care workers were finding access to parking increasingly difficult in inner city areas.
‘Community nurses and home care workers are spending more and more valuable time searching for vacant car spaces during work hours which takes away from the time that they can spend with residents – many of whom are elderly or disabled.
‘Providing a care worker-specific parking permit will not just make the job easier, it will mean that care workers can spend more of their time and energy helping people.’
Ms Martin said the Sydney Alliance brought together a coalition of local workers, community groups and religious organisations – including the NSW Nurses & Midwives Association, Cancer Council NSW, St Brigid’s Parish in Marrickville, and the Peace & Justice Office of the Catholic Arch Diocese – to urge Marrickville and Leichhardt Council to take action.
‘Nurses spoke at the recent Marrickville Council meeting, ensuring councillors understood the genuine challenges they face on a day-to-day basis.
‘Both councils are to be congratulated for listening to the needs of their communities and taking action.’
Fellow Sydney Alliance spokesperson Mark Ludbrooke added, ‘This is a great example of what can be achieved when people work in coalition to identify and respond to local issues. We look forward to building on this success by engaging more local people to work through other local issues’.
The Sydney Alliance will celebrate this achievement with a local Assembly in Marrickville. For more information contact Rita 0414 550 389 or Mark 04 3333 1158.
